New low-fare airline planned for Ireland-U.S. route

Takeover threat: Aer Lingus staff are being warned that failure to agree cost-cutting measures could lead to a takeover by Ryanair

A new low fare no frills airline serving Ireland and the United States is being planned. The company will be called Aerfare and $200 million is being sought to launch it. Fares will be 30% to 50% cheaper than currently offered.

The Irish Examiner reports that Ryanair titan Michael O'Leary will be one of the investors approached. O'Leary has expressed significant interest in the past in creating a North Atlantic model airline based on Ryanair's European model which is incredibly successful.

AerFair is expected operate flights from Dublin to Boston, London to San Francisco, Frankfurt to New York and Paris to Chicago.

Bloxham Stockbrokers who are putting the package for Aerfare together are Ireland's oldest stockbroking firm based in Dublin and Cork. They have put together a comprehensive plan for the airline, which would need an investment of $200 million.

The airline would fly to secondary airports located close to big cities. MacArthur Airport in Long Island has been mentioned in the past as a possible location for new flights form Ireland.

"AerFair will create an entirely new on-board wi-fi-based retail offering. In addition to existing items available from legacy carriers it will offer other products such as ground transport tickets, theater tickets, on board gambling and gaming options together with mobile telephony," said Mr Gill.

The airline is targeting a 4% share of the European Union-U.S. air travel market within five years, seeking an annual revenue pool of at least $360m and passenger volume of 1.2m.

AerFair says it would offer would offer two cabins – the LowAerFare and the premium AerForce1. Bloxham says it is in discussions with Boeing in the preparation of the offering document.